Credit: IPL
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be playing in IPL 2025 without the guidance of Gautam Gambhir and Shreyas Iyer who played a huge role in their success in 2024. Gambhir did a superb job as mentor while Shreyas also led the side from the front and delivered remarkable results to the team.
This year, Ajinkya Rahane will be holding the reins of the side and his responsibility will be to deliver desired results with his leadership and batting prowess. Kolkata will kick off their campaign against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the opening game at the iconic Eden Gardens on March 22. Ahead of the much-awaited clash, SportsTiger is having a look at KKR’s best playing XI for the upcoming tournament.
Here is KKR's Strongest Predicted Playing XI for this season
Openers: Quinton de Kock and Sunil Narine
KKR reserved the services of South Africa opener Quinton de Kock for just INR 3.6 Crore in the IPL auction 2025 and defending champions will hand him the responsibility to deliver explosive starts to the team with Sunil Narine, who is most likely to be his opening partner. In the last season, Narine chipped in with 488 runs and 17 wickets in KKR’s scintillating success.
Middle-order batters: Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, and Rinku Singh
Venkatesh Iyer ended up as the third most expensive player in the auction. Kolkata snapped him up for a humongous price of INR 23.75 Crore. His role will be to fortify Kolkata’s middle-order along with his captain Rahane and Rinku Singh. Rahane struggled to be among the runs for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in 2023 but this time, he will strive to be effective as a batter to set a perfect precedent for his teammates. Manish Pandey looked miserable in the last few seasons but in the upcoming competition, he may get the opportunity to shine with his bat and help KKR reign the league again. Rinku’s fierce batting style will be crucial for Kolkata in the middle overs.
All-rounders: Andre Russell
Andre Russell will be expected to don the role of finisher with his bat while as a bowler, he has to deliver breakthroughs to the side in middle overs.
Bowlers: Anrich Nortje, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, and Vaibhav Arora
South Africa quick Anrich Nortje became part of Kolkata for INR 6.50 Crore in the auction. He might be handed the task to spearhead KKR’s fast-bowling unit. The speedster will receive support from Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora. Varun Chakravarthy will look to carry his Champions Trophy 2025 form to the upcoming T20 competition to help his side defend the title successfully.
Impact Player: Mayank Markande for Manish Pandey
Mayank Markande may do wonders for KKR as his entry in the games as an impact player might make batters uncomfortable on Kolkata’s surface which is known for assisting turners. Allying with Narine and Chakravarthy, he might deliver extraordinary results to the team. He can be seen replacing Manish Pandey in the playing XI.
